Basically, a couple of transmen were physically assaulted, yes physically assaulted, by a group of lesbians (and a male friend) outside Fab Lounge. Read that again because you need to know it.

There are a couple reasons that everyone in the queer community in this city must know about this incident.

The first (and it sickens me to write this) is that apparently transmen - and by extension all people with alternative gender identity and expression - are not physically safe at some of DC's queer events. So that means they, and those who love them, have to know to watch their backs.

The second is that we as a community have to address this issue immediately. It must be made crystal clear that this kind of hatred and behavior is not tolerated and not welcome.

If you hear or see transphobic comments or behavior, it is your responsibility to stop it. If you have transphobic thoughts or concerns, it is your responsibility to educate yourself. Here are a few places to start:

What happened last week outside Fab Lounge was a hate crime. It is beyond unacceptable. All the peripheral L Word storylines in the world don't change the sad fact that there are many lesbians who are transphobic. That things have gone far enough that lesbians feel empowered to assault transpeople is shocking and it points to a failure of our community. It means that other kinds of non-physical violence have been going unaddressed for too long.

Something queer people know well is that being silent in the face of violence does not help anyone. If there are queer events and spaces that are not safe for transpeople, they need to be called out. Same for transphobic people. I hope you all will join me in this.

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